Mētsuki Hōzuki
| affiliation = | previous affiliation = | occupation = Mizukage | previous occupation = | team = Team Enmu | previous team = | partner = | previous partner = | clan = | family = (Lover) Tōgetsu (Grandson) Shōgetsu (Grandson) Yūgiri (Granddaughter) | rank = | classification = | reg = | academy = | chunin = | jonin = | kekkei = | tota = | mora = | beast = | hiden = | unique = Can absorb chakra | nature = Yin Release (affinity) Water Release (affinity) Wind Release Fire Release | jutsu = Drowning Water Blob Technique Grudge Rain Hiding in Mist Technique Hydrification Technique Killing Intent Mist Draining Technique Mist Ensnaring Technique Mist Sensing Technique Secret Technique: Mist Rain Silent Killing Strange Phenomenon of the Sea Water Release: Water–Heavens Convergence | tools = }} Mētsuki Hōzuki (鬼灯冥月 Hōzuki Mētsuki) was the last and Seventh Mizukage (七代目水影, Nanadaime Mizukage, Literally meaning: Seventh Water Shadow) before the village reformed their chain-in-command structure after her reign. During her command the village fell into a state worse than the Bloody Mist. Therefore in the history of Kiri through her vile actions, Mētsuki became the most vicious, tyrannical leader whom had elevated herself to that position with the . Because of this, the former Noble became feared for a chance of creating another usurper and are hunted down even to this day. Background Born into two branches of the noble Hōzuki clan, Mētsuki and others of same birthright were raised under strict supervision of the elders. With the damage done to their reputation due to several other clansmen in the past, the family must face the shame head-on and produce new candidates of high potent that return them to their aristocrat status. Being one of the few girls born in the new generation, Mētsuki was supposed to receive an arranged marriage to another noble clan, but the Sixth Mizukage vouched that she was an excellent kunoichi in training. With his reassurance that she would be under his watch, together with her then formed team, Mētsuki was put under pressure unknown to her teammates and Mizukage. Her parents threatened that one failure would mean another step closer to lose her privileges of freedom to pursuit her dreams. At some point while attending the Academy, Mētsuki encountered Kagura (who was in a different class) after he had succumbed to his bloodlust. She was told to stay clear from him by her parents, just like any other person recommended. But deep inside, Mētsuki felt an understanding for the poor boy—it wasn’t his doing. Feeling suppressed by her family, elders and the fear of what she could become, she finally disobeyed their demands for once and waited for him after class hours. Kagura was initially suspicious of her motives after the treatment from other children of the Academy, especially when she told him they can only meet in secret. But with time through understanding each other about their dreams, insecurities and fears, their friendship became an unbreakable bond. After an unit from Konoha visited Kiri and helped defeat the new seven swordsmen, Kagura became even more reputed and with his new experiences he finally gathered the courage to ask Mētsuki out. A few years following the defeat of Momoshiki Ōtsutsuki, the moon above Kirigakure was replaced with a crimson, foreign full moon that seduced unfortunate souls outside and bewitch them with its own will. Mētsuki became its chosen champion to unleash torment on the human lands and over time the corruption overwhelmed her humane nature. During these months, her lover, Kagura, wasn't present much in the village to aide Konoha's reconstruction after the battle with another Ōtsutsuki that had left destruction in its wake. By the time Kagura returned, Mētsuki had already given into her madness and committed countless grave crimes to usurp the Sixth Mizukage, which also became the end of their love story, for he too would perish by her hand. Reigning in complete tyranny, the Hōzuki clan became feared completely with their destructive nature after her defeat. They lost their position as a noble family and exiled from the village. Even with these punishments, the Hōzuki were man-hunted by shinobi across the globe to bring them to extinction in the fear of them producing another threat. While the Hōzuki have reduced in numbers, the people are unaware that Mētsuki continued her legacy together with Kagura that still remain in the slums of the village. Personality Thanks to her upbringing, Mētsuki was quite submissive, quiet and supported her loved ones in her own self-destructive manner. She was destined to become a traditional kinswoman, dismissing her dreams (of becoming a bodyguard for the Mizukage) to pursuit the wishes of her clan to regain their creditability and once again be a highly-respected noble family. According to Kagura, this led her to never reach her full potential as a kunoichi in his lifetime, which is a white lie and understandable fact. After all, Mētsuki’s honest fear was to be consumed by an inescapable bloodthirst that could overmaster her during a battle. Something inheritable from the branches she was born from. Her teammates vouched that Mētsuki that she was no victim of this and encouraged her, along with Kagura, to remain a kunoichi — because she is strong for who she is. In return, Mētsuki would fully support and cheer on her friends to be at their very best. Even at the cost of receiving any limelight for any successful missions or a chance at promotion, preferring to remain within their shadows. Her smiles were perfect for each moment and always felt genuine for most recipients, often blinded by her general appearance. Yet most were an act to deceive others as a distraction from her own unhappiness and insecurities, which never went unnoticed by Kagura, who could relate to her pain through his own experience. But in Mētsuki’s case, the mind became her worst enemy and all the positive, kind and supportive words from outside became unheard. Mētsuki believed fiercely that she was a good of nothing and a liability compared to others, losing all her potential and locked herself at a below-average level for chūnin. She had casted herself into a delusion so powerful that others considered her growth as kunoichi to have ended too — putting her genjutsu skill at an even more unrealistic level. After falling victim to a foreign crimson full moon, Mētsuki experienced an unsuspecting change in personality to an incomparable woman that would bathe in the blood of her victims. Her darkness hiding deep within her heart was forcibly surfaced, something that would never have happened under normal circumstances. The mental chains she had put herself in broke completely at some point and succumbed to a thirst unseen. Her softness just as her light lilac eyes were no more, instead a woman of cruelty and lust for power overtake with eyes as the bloody moon; insanity. Mētsuki had no qualms of becoming an usurper and the enemy of the village. She easily betrayed the newly appointed guardians of the village and killing them without hesitance. Her first victims in her coup d’etat. She savoured the defeat of her enemies, loving every second of the power she gains from them and laughing about it all along. Her ability to deceive even after this incredible feat is astounding. It allowed her to ensnare the Sixth Mizukage in her tortuous plans for him and humiliate him in front of his subordinates and civilians. She considers her predecessor too weak and pretentious, someone unable to protect his village against anyone at this point. But even when her plans got interrupted by her lover, she showed no hesitation to execute him like any other and even made it far more personal, showing she has become completely immoral. However, for a split second when Kagura took his last breath, the former Mētsuki resurfaced which caused the rain to fall down harder in the village. But from then, Mētsuki became inhumane, ruled the village in utter fear and had no toleration for any outsider — and any deserter would be hunted by the shinobi sworn loyalty to her. Appearance MetsukiConcept.jpg|Concept of Mētsuki Metsuki Detachable Cloak.png|Easily detachable cloak Metsuki Off-duty.png|An off-duty Mētsuki prior tainted by the red moon Before Mētsuki became the evil of Kiri, she was admired by many of her generation for her innocent beauty. She was at an average height for her clan, sharing their pale complexion and a slender build. What her closest allies witnessed was a change of light lilac eyes that transitioned to the same colour as the enthralling red moon. Her most cared feature of her appearance was her knee-length, soft white hair, and while so, it was untamed and yet without any tangles. She had styled her front bangs to curve towards one side of her forehead, while other fringes were framed around her face. Mētsuki, as a kunoichi, often wore special tailored attires that brought out the best of her feminine figure. She was well-known to wear a sleeveless, high-collared black that was designed to be shorter then the minimum standards, falling just above her upper thigh. She had bracelets of the same material that covered her wrist up to her upper arm. Both had fine details needled into different patterns with a golden thread. Underneath her short qipao, Mētsuki had the decency to wear it with a black and gold, tight-fitted legging that hugged her skin neatly with knee-high boot heels. As decoration, she adorned her waist with a light-weighted belt and an easily-removable cloak that covered her shoulders to arms. Abilities Throughout her years training with her teammates and accompanying them on missions, Mētsuki retained a lacklustre appetite for bloodshed and restrained her own latent talents, leading her growth to halt at the level of a chūnin kunoichi. Still, she had received an invitation to join the ranks of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, which she declined. However, years after the defeat of , Mētsuki broke through her mental barricades with assistance from an unseen being. According to her best friend, Shikyo, the moment her eyes had turned completely red, Mētsuki achieved her highest and very unpredictable potential yet. Her potency was frightening enough to inherit the title and position of , although she gained them through defeating her two predecessors alone, which included the defeat of notable number of shinobi that wielded one of the seven swords, thus also her lover, Kagura. Since she draws most of her fighting style from water and the level of humidity, Mētsuki was reasoned to be near-invincible within her homeland. Still, she proved to be a highly capable kunoichi for her status outside of her turf, with thanks to her ability to use the natural environment to her favour. It took a very unorthodox method to eliminate her for good. Chakra and Kenjutsu Prowess Being a child of the Hōzuki, Mētsuki had a unique arrangement in her genetics to liquefy herself without need to exhaust her chakra reserves. Because of this reason, it was believed that most of her clan had an average amount comparable to that of a jōnin-level shinobi from Kirigakure. In the beginning the same was to be said for her, perhaps even a lesser amount. She balanced her lesser amount for a pristine chakra control, and the ability to affiliate chakra signatures with one another and intercept foreign with much ease, which led her later to be capable of sensing the entire civilisation of Kiri. Singling out foreign signatures allowed her to intervene without becoming detectable, even to other sensors. It made her one of the finest sensor nin within her village, something she was praised for by her mentors. Once Mētsuki became enthralled with the red moon, her mental barricades were torn down and unleashed her full potential, which increased her reserves even further and was able to cast a powerful genjutsu that captivated the entire village through rain and mist. Mētsuki could also last days without showing exhausting of casting a technique akin to ’s Grudge Rain to keep her village under close supervision. Before her death, she received a compliment from the assassin to have drawn his chakra through the mist, a painful stake for one that lives as one with water. Following from her genetic advantages, Metsuki was a formidable fighter with flexibility for close and long range. She was referred as a master of chakra and supreme assassin for her generation. Her adaptivity to different fighting styles to best her opponents led her to become the Third Coming of Demon (鬼人の三来 Kijin no Sanrai). As such, even before inheriting this title and with her former mediocre skills in kenjutsu, she had been recognised for her other innate skills to join the ranks of the seven swordsmen. However, she proved her resilience against a master swordsman, Chōjūrō, whom she later defeated under unfair conditions. Her mastery was revealed later when Mētsuki mastered all the seven swords that were in her possession. Genjutsu Ninjutsu Nature Transformation Trivia * Her original name was meant to be related to a phase of the moon, where the crescent shape has its horns pointing upward, which reflected to her fallen victim to an Ōtsutsuki. However, the name and its combination fell unfitting to her. She was once a hard-working and gentle kunoichi that against her will became the evil of Kirigakure. Hence why her name became “'Mētsuki'” with the use of 冥月 that can be interpreted as a Divine or Dark Moon, highlighting both phases she endured in her life.